Looking Back
by theflockroxmysox
Summary: People change and forget to tell each other. Maybe Fang has changed, and that's why he disappeared. But maybe he hasn't, and it wasn't his choice to leave me. Honestly, I prefer option two. FAX! On hiatus
1. Clichés

**A/N: This isn't my first fanfiction, but it's the first one I actually really want to FINISH and possibly make a sequel to. I only have two fanfics on my page, this one and a oneshot, but I have written more. I took them down like a month ago cuz I was never going to finish them.**

**PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE read through the whole chapter, I know it doesn't seem "FAXY" right now, but trust me, it will be! **

**This chapter came out shorter than I wanted it to be, but I'm happy with the way it came out.**

**In the future, I will try to make shorter A/Ns than this one :)**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Maximum Ride, this wouldn't be a fanfiction, but a published book. Duh.

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_In the end, we all want the same thing. Love._

_--_

" "Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." " My English teacher, Mrs. Taylor, thrust her arms out to her sides as she quoted Shakespeare, trying to make the quote more epic, and only succeeding in making herself look like a giant duck. "Can anyone tell me what this quote means?" No one raised their hand. "No? Max?"

I looked up, quickly shoving my drawing under a bunch of other papers. _Note to self: Don't let Fang go through papers._

"Um," Great, Max. Very smart-ass. "Well, I guess "some are born great" is referring to like, you know, people who are born into really wealthy or important families, or something. And "some achieve greatness" refers to people who _become_ famous, like actors or singers or authors, and "some have greatness thrust upon them" refers to people who, maybe, suddenly find themselves in situations where they have to take charge, or something. So I guess what the quote is saying is that no one should fear greatness, 'cuz even if you're not great, chances are you'll know someone great... I guess," I shrugged.

Mrs. Taylor considered what I had said. She looked me straight in the eye. "You don't have to be famous to achieve greatness, Max."

That statement wouldn't have creeped me out so much if she hadn't said it like she was prophesying my future. Cuz if she was, she was dead off center. (Did that even make any sense? Dead off center?) The closest I'll ever come to "greatness" in my life will be when I don't have to worry about being a lab rat for the emotionally screwed.

Okay, so the whitecoats aren't really emotionally screwed, but you'd think they would be, what with what they do to innocent humans (*coughcoughmeandfangcoughcough*) _every freakin' day._

So now you're probably wondering why I'm not locked up in an insane asylum yet, but just you wait. You haven't even heard a quarter of it yet.

So ever since I can remember, until recently, that is, I've spent my life in a dog crate. Literally. At a place called the School. You see, I'm... _different _from other kids my age. Not different, as in I like to read (I've only read two books in my entire fifteen years), different as in I'm 2% _bird_. I have _wings._ I can _fly._ The scientist, or, as I like to call them, whitecoats, found a way to rearrange my DNA strands and add bird genes, plus some other technical stuff that has absolutely no meaning to me (well, I mean, it does, since it's my body, but what I mean is I don't understand it), all before I was born, while I was still in the womb.

And after I was born, the whitecoats weren't done, not by a long shot. Of course, since I was a successful experiment (Experiment 0109 to be exact), they just _had_ to run more tests on me. _For thirteen years._

Anyway, there was another experiment just like me, in the dog crate right next to mine. We were both success stories (and tortured souls), and we struck up a friendship pretty quickly. Since the screwed whitecoats had thoughtfully picked out heartfelt numbers for us (note the sarcasm, folks), we decided to pick out our own names. My name is Maximum Ride. His name is Fang.

And then, one day, we escaped. I'm not going to go into details right now, but we fled to the other side of the country (or should I say _flew_), and decided to enroll in school as brother and sister.

Maximum and Fang Ride.

--

"Hey," Fang nodded his head nonchalantly in my direction as I walked over with my lunch tray. Okay, I'll admit it, that single word just made my heart beat about fifty times faster. But it nearly stopped when I almost sat on top of the girl sitting next to Fang, _in my spot_.

I smiled apologetically and slid into the seat across from Fang. I looked down at my tray and picked up the carton of orange juice, but nearly choked on it as I realized who was sitting in my spot: Charlotte King, head cheerleader.

And she was sitting next to Fang, in my spot, oh-so subtly flipping her wavy red hair over her shoulder and laughing at something that Fang had just said. Ha ha.

"Uh, Fang?" He looked at me. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" When he motioned for me to continue, I hissed, "_alone_." He sighed, rolled his eyes towards Charlotte, and got up and followed me to the corner of the cafeteria. "What is she doing here?" I hissed.

He rolled his eyes. "Max, chill. I invited her to sit down." And with that, he walked away.

I stood there, silently fuming. He invited her? How could he? And in my seat? I watched as he sat back down at the table and immediately started talking to Charlotte again, both of them laughing. After a moment, I stalked back over, grabbed my lunch tray, chucked it in the trash, and walked out of the cafeteria. When I was sure I was out of sight, I ran, tears spilling over my cheeks.

_You are everything to me_

I didn't even notice where I was going, only that it was away from school.

_And I just wanna show you_

_She don't even know you _

Since when does Fang talk to anyone besides me? You just see right through me

And even then, he doesn't say much.

_There's a fire inside of you_

_That can't help but shine through_

_She's never gonna see the light_

How could he abandon me, after everything we've been through together?

_Like shadows in the faded light,_

Screw clichés.

I didn't stop running. I tore off my jacket, opened up my speckled wings, and jumped into the air. Within seconds I was as high as jet plane, flying as fast as one.

_We could be a beautiful, miracle, unbelievable_

_Instead I'm just invisible_

And you know what?

He never looked back.

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**A/N: PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE REVIEW!!!! **

**YES there will be TONS OF FAX! Don't worry, Charlotte doesn't last long, so PLEASE don't stop reading just because Fang has found yet another red haired wonder. Still don't believe me? You know that note I mentioned in the summary? Well, Max finds it when she wakes up in the morning, and it's on Fang's side of the bed.**

**I think my english teacher's rubbing off on me (maybe not, I didn't capitalize "English".) cuz I actually deliberatley put some symbolism stuff in this story. There are at least four, and anyone who can get three out of the four, I will put a character you design in the story, and s/he'll have a big part!! :)**

**The song Max was quoting in her head was "Invisible" by Taylor Swift, and throughout the story Max will have this obsession with relating different situations in her life to songs she's heard.**

**Comment or PM if you have any questions**


	2. Lamps

**A/N: The contest will be extended until the third chapter is up.**

**I like this chapter, but it's still kinda short.**

**If anyone has any songs they want me ot put in it, let me know!**

**Disclaimer: Fax would be the main plot of Fang if I owned Maximum Ride.**

_The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of._

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Max POV Okay, so maybe I overreacted a little. But the way Fang seemed so... engrossed, smitten, with Charlotte, and her with him, and the way he basically ignored me, well, when you're in love with someone, those things usually don't do your heart any good.

There, I said it, you happy? I. Love. Fang.

Come on, was it really that much of a surprise? The way he stands in the corner, tall and mysterious, observant and with a slight smiling playing over his lips... Well, I guess I can see where Charlotte's coming from.

Ugh, I'm _such_ a sop story. Can we just forget I ever said any of that?

I sighed, and started looking for a place to land. Up ahead, there was a little clearing with a small pool in the forest, and I circled around a few times before landing gracefully in the center, folding my wings up behind me, then flicking them back open again.

I love this place. I always come here when I need to get away, which is probably how Fang found me so easily, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I sat down on the conveniently placed log and put my chin in my hands.

Why couldn't Fang feel the same way about me?

You know that I could use somebody

Did he know how I felt about him?

Someone like me How would he react if he did? Waging war to shake the poet and the beat

How would _I_ react?

I hope it's going to make you notice

I'd probably run.

I've been roaming around

Because, truthfully? Being in love scares the heck out of me. And I guess I'd want to know whether he'd care enough to come after me.

Or if he'd be too stuck on Charlotte.

I tried to push that thought from my mind. After all, they had only been talking, And laughing. And Charlotte had been flirting with him. And Fang had invited her to sit in my spot. And I think I'm reading too far into this.

I guess I should explain something else about us. Since we're 2% bird, we have enhanced vision and hearing capabilities. Which is why the slight shadow of movement to my right immediately caught my attention. I whipped my head that way, and caught the briefest glimpse of glowing yellow eyes before they disappeared deeper into the forest. I was just about to follow it when a hand was placed on my shoulder.

I jumped and whirled around, my fist already extending in a punch. Fang ducked under it, and my fist missed him by an inch. I lowered my hand, staring him in the eyes.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

Okay, so at least he still cares about my feelings and well being.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, trying to keep my voice flat.

"Well, one, because you almost broke my nose. And two, you only come out here when you're upset, or we're out of bacon. And as far as I know, we still have bacon left."

I shrugged. "Sorry about that. I saw something in the woods, and I thought..."

"You thought what? It was an Eraser or something? You know they can't find us."

An Eraser is another successful experiment from the School. They can morph into this evil, half wolf thing. And they're bred to hunt and kill their prey. Which is usually us.

"But what if they have?"

"They haven't. Stop trying to change the subject."

When I didn't answer he sighed and took my hand. Warmth shot up my arm, and I shivered at the same time. "Look, I'm sorry for ignoring you at school today. I'll make sure Charlotte doesn't sit in your spot from now on."

I considered this. On the one hand, he was apologizing. On the other hand... "But she's still going to sit with us?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Forget it." I pulled out of his grasp and took off into the air. I looked back. He was shaking his head, staring up at me. Then he snapped out his wings and jumped into the air, following me home.

--

_The field stretched on forever and ever. I whirled around, taking in my surroundings in a quick 360. On every horizon the short, freshly cut green grass met seamlessly with the dark blue, midnight color of the sky._

_Then, as I stood there, the grass started dying, rapidly turning yellow, then brown. Before I had time to process this, Fang appeared in front of me. He held out his hand, beckoning me forward._

_I felt a sudden need to get to him as quickly as possible. I sprinted over to him, my strong legs propelling me forward. But just as I was about to grab his hand, he disappeared._

_"Fang!" I called out, only my voice made no noise above the howling wind that had started up. "FANG!!" I felt a tap on my shoulder, and a cold, clammy hand covered my mouth._

My eyes flew open. I was in bed. It had been a dream. Someone's hand was placed over my mouth.

I brought my arm down in a karate chop over the arm attached to the hand, and it released.

"Ow! Dammit!" Fang cursed as he stumbled backwards, accidentally bumping into my nightstand. The lamp toppled over and shattered on the wooden floor.

"What the hell, Fang? Do you want to wake up everyone in this neighborhood?"

He stood up straight, massaging his arm. "Me? You were the one screaming my name."

"Oh, I... I had a dream."

"Really?" He arched his eyebrow.

"Ew, no! Not like that!" I slapped his good arm. Although I had to admit that would've been better than the dream I had just had.

"So, care to tell me what it was about?" He sat down on the corner of my bed.

"Not really," I glanced over at the clock. 6:30. "We should get ready for school."

It was only then that I realized he was already fully dressed, and his shaggy black hair wasn't a mess, like mine probably was.

As if reading my thoughts, he spoke, "Nice hair."

I made a weird squeaking/giggling noise and covered my head with my blanket. He laughed and the bed creaked as he got up. I peeked over the covers and watched as he walked out of the room, closing the door gently behind him. A moment later, I heard the faint click as he opened the door to his room at the end of the hall.

When Fang and I first came to - ..... never mind, I can't tell you what state we're in. Just that it's _far_ away from Death Valley, California. Anyway, we realized we couldn't live on the streets forever about a year ago. We also realized that a) we didn't have the money to buy a house and b) we had no parents to buy a new house for us.

So we found an abandoned farmhouse on the edge of town, and we've lived there ever since. We only have one neighbor, and technically he's not even a neighbor.

I sighed and got out of bed, clicking the overhead light on, since my lamp was broken. I pulled on a tight-fitting t-shirt advertising the band "Lifehouse" on it, one I hadn't worn in a long time. Then I pulled out a pair of dark navy blue skinny jeans that Fang had gotten me for my "birthday" (we don't know when our actual birthdays are, so we picked our own) last year, ones that I had never worn before because I used to be dead set against skinny jeans. _Used to be._

I studied myself in the full-length mirror across from my bed. My hair _was_ a mess, and I grabbed a brush off of my nightstand and yanked it through my sun-bleached brown hair. Even after I had it somewhat under control, it was still bumpy and weird looking, and I pulled it up into a ponytail.

I looked at myself in the mirror again. I looked kind of like a guy, with my hair back like that. I redid the ponytail, this time up higher and off to one side.

Finally satisfied, I slipped on my only pair of sandals, a blue pair of flip-flops with wings branching out from either side of a heart. Sadly, Fang had not given these to me as a present.

I stepped around the mess of lamp shards and walked down the long hallway to Fang's room. I rapped on the door.

"Fang! Go clean up the mess you made in my room!" I yelled.

"Why?"

"Cuz I said so! And it's your fault!" I walked away.

Twenty minutes later, after I had brushed my teeth, made sure Fang did clean up the lamp mess, and eaten breakfast (which consisted of lots of bacon), we were out the door and walking down the long, twisting lane to the front of our "house", where our bus stop was.

I was almost enjoying the morning. Fang was as friendly as ever to me, and he didn't mention Charlotte once. The only thing that kept nagging at my mind was that dream. What had it meant? See, when you're a bird kid, you never have dreams unless they actually _mean_ something.

I was just making up my mind to tell Fang about the dream when the bus screeched to a halt in front of us. Fang climbed on first.

"Gee, such a gentleman," I muttered under my breath, and Fang chuckled.

"Nah, I just act like one," I cracked a smile at that, but it faded when Charlotte waved to Fang and said, "Fang, over here!" and pointed to the empty spot next to her.

Well, my day just tripped over its feet and took a face plant on the cement.

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**A/N: The quote at the beginning of this chapter was said by Blaise Pascal**

**The song was "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon**

**review!!**


	3. Paint and Other Strange Things

_God has given you one face, and you make yourself another. - Shakespeare_

So I can basically sum up my entire day in two words. Beyond suckish.

Yes, Fang did sit with Charlotte. Yes, I did have to sit by myself. Yes, I did have to watch them talk and laugh with each other the whole bus ride. No, I was not having fun.

Fang did wait for me when he got off the bus, and he made Charlotte wait too, although she didn't look too happy about that. You didn't have to be a genius to figure that out. Not wanting to risk getting in the way of the two lovebirds (okay, _friends_), I declined and busied myself with tying a non-existent untied shoelace until they disappeared into the building.

I almost managed to push Charlotte out of my mind as I sat with Fang through all of History (in my opinion, the most boring class on earth. Why is any of this stuff important? And all so complicated?) and we passed notes back and forth. Of course, I had Art next period. And Charlotte was there.

We were supposed to be painting a fall scene, even though it was late April. My painting was of a glowing sunset over a lake, and was framed by a tree with golden and red leaves on either side. I had it all etched out, and had just started painting the middle of the lake, and I was rather proud of how good it looked so far.

Charlotte walked over to me, paintbrush in hand. "Can I borrow some yellow paint?" she asked, although I happened to know she had perfectly good yellow paint of her own.

I looked at her, her paintbrush already lowering to dip into my paint.

"No," I said. She froze.

"What?"

"I said no, you cannot use my yellow paint. Yours is perfectly fine." I turned my back on her and continued painting.

Bet you can guess what happened next. Charlotte dipped her paintbrush in _my _yellow and proceeded to spatter it all over my painting. I should have expected it. Fuming, I turned and swiped my paintbrush (that was covered in blue paint) down the front of her blue (dang! the _one_ day she doesn't wear white) blouse.

Charlotte screeched and her paintbrush clattered to the floor. She glared at me and ran out of the room, covering (or at least attempting to) the bright blue streak. That was fun.

"Maximum Ride!" My art teacher, Ms. Linden, bellowed. "To the principal's office, now!"

Crap.

I got up and slouched my way over to the door. I'm not sure who won this round, but I can guarantee I will win the next.

I entered the principal's office just as Fang left it. I shot him a questioning look, but he just winked and shrugged.

"Apparently I'm too strong for my own good," he whispered into my ear, and I bit back a laugh.

That laugh, of course, faded when I saw our principal, Mr. Doyle, sitting in his chair, back straight and hands folded neatly in front of him.

"Max, come in and have a seat," he gestured to the hard backed wooden chair in front of his desk. I did so, my eyes never leaving his. "I got a call from your art teacher. She says you painted the front of Charlotte King's shirt blue?"

I shrugged. "It was only one stroke. And I'm not trying to make an excuse, but she _was_ asking for it."

"I see, and how exactly was she asking for it? Because I don't think she came right out and said 'Max, can you please stain my shirt blue?'. "

I bit my lip. "Well, first off, the paint is washable. And second, she was asking for it because she was being a..."

The principal raised his eyebrow. Man, I wish I could do that. How cool would it be to raise just one eyebrow?

"Well, she started it by painting over my painting!" I blurted out. Great, Max. Now you sound like a two-year-old.

The principal sighed. "I am going to pretend I didn't hear that. This is your warning, Maximum Ride."

He looked at me when he said this last part, as if he was trying to tell me something more than if I did that again I would get a detention. Great, first Mrs. Taylor, then my mysterious dream, and now Mr. Doyle. According to them, I was going to become famous, lose Fang, and get a detention if I painted over someone's blouse again. Gee, isn't my life going to be wonderful?

Speaking of life, there is one more thing I need to explain. When we were at the School, Fang and I overheard some whitecoats talking about something called "expiration dates". Apparently, after an undetermined number of years, a pre-programmed expiration date will show up on the neck of an experiment. One that managed to live that long in the first place. And the date that shows up is the day that your body's energy will run out, and you will die. Sounds like a bunch of fun, right?

"Yes sir," I nodded and stood up just as the bell rang, signaling lunch period had just started.

The lunchroom was as disgusting as usual. I honestly have no idea why anyone in their right mind would paint an entire cafeteria starch white, with one maroon stripe extending across the floor. I won't get too descriptive right now, because I don't want anyone gagging on my journal, but let's just say it's hard to get some stains out of a _white floor_.

Trying my best to step around the biggest stains, I made my way through the mass of people and to our usual _white_ table. Charlotte was nowhere to be seen, and Fang was smiling up at me. I swallowed a sigh of relief and slid into my usual seat next to him.

"So, why were you at the principal's office?" Fang asked, smirking as I slapped my paper lunch bag on the table (The school was serving pasta and meatsauce today. Unless you wanted chunks of pasty meatsauce stuck in your teeth for the remainder of the day, you brought lunch).

"I, uh..." What was I supposed to say? I couldn't lie to Fang, but I couldn't tell him the truth. What was I doing, Fang? Oh, I was only smearing paint down Charlotte King's shirt because she was being a... Yeah, no. "I accidentaly got some paint on someone's shirt."

Fang raised an eyebrow. Dang! Him too? I would have to experiment with that later. "Oh really? Because Charlotte showed up in the middle of my gym class, covering her shirt with a folder and muttering something-" he glanced over at the teacher walking amongst the tables near us. "-that I am not going to repeat right now."

My mouth formed a tight line of well-hidden embarrassment. Well-hidden to everyone, that is, except Fang. He half-frowned, half-smirked at me and opened his mouth to say something. The universe will never know what he was about to say (but I have formed my own ideas) because his face broke into a smile as he spotted Charlotte walking toward us.

She returned his smile and sat down on his other side. I nearly spewed my Coke across the table when I saw that she had actually order the school lunch. Choking, I watched in astonishment as she twirled some around a fork and placed it in her mouth.

"Hey, Fang. Sorry for distracting you in gym class today."

"S'fine," he nonchalantly brushed his hand through his hair. I nearly choked again, but I had nothing to choke on. D-distracting him? What did that mean?

"Hey, Max," Charlotte said, a slight smile playing across her lips. "We had fun in Art today, didn't we?" It took me a minute to realize she wasn't being sarcastic. At least, it didn't sound that way.

"Uh..." Was all I could think of to say.

She giggled. I resisted the urge to put her in a headlock. "Oh, I love your shirt! Lifehouse, is like, my favorite band of all time!"

What the hell?

"I'm sure it is. Name one of their songs, one that isn't popular." I folded my arms and sat back in my chair, waiting for her stuttering and unsuccessful attempt to change the subject, which was sure to come. I mean, come on, head cheerleader listen to a band like Lifehouse?

"Wrecking Ball," she answered without hesitation. "It's my favorite song from their new album!" I nearly choked again. Maybe it was better if I just didn't eat - or drink - anything right now. Wrecking Ball was a song on their new album, and it was also my least favorite. "Oh, you should really see a doctor about that," Charlotte advised.

"Thanks," I did my best to glare at her, which she pointedly ignored.

An elbow found its way to my stomach. "You two seem to be getting along great," Fang remarked.

"Oh, I know! I think we'll be friends in no time!" Charlotte shrugged a shoulder.

I snorted loudly. Oh, what was that, Charlotte? Should I see a doctor about that, too? Well, I think I'm good, but hold onto his number, because you're going to need it.

The end of lunch couldn't come soon enough.

"Oh, Fang, you're so funny!" Charlotte laughed.

Only ten minutes left until freedom. Ten minutes to contemplate different ways to hide Charlotte's body. Because even if Fang was, I wasn't buying her nice girl act, not one bit. Unlike him, I'd watched TV lately.

I tried to block them out as best as I could. But with Charlotte's way-too-high-frequency-to-be-normal voice, it was an extremely hard feat to accomplish. I managed it, almost.

The bell rang, overpowering Charlotte's words. For two seconds of my life, I loved that bell.

"So, I'll see you there at nine, okay?"

I think my feet started to smoke as I skidded to a halt at the cafeteria exit.

Wait, what?

**Oh my gosh I'm soooo sorry for making you all wait this long! I know I promised a new chapter like three months ago but I was really busy and I kinda forgot about it (I know, excuses, excuses) but now that it's summer I hope to make it up to by trying to write at least one chapter a week... we al know how good I am with deadlines though. I'm sooo sorry! **

**Anyway, without further ado, the winner of the contest (if you don't remember it, look at the previous chapters) is tiduscanfly! Just PM me with any descriptions you have of the character you want to be in the story! :)**

**Disclaimer: Well, I think if I owned Maximum Ride it would be obvious what I'd change. Fang wouldn't have been such an idiot and left!  
**


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